Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Sells 121 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,227 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.8% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 170.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 211.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 309.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 24,974 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,046,000 after purchasing an additional 18,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,141 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $190.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.